I work and live in Egg Harbor City. We're just east of Hammonton, about 25 minutes out of Atlantic City. Our school isn't exactly reflective of the community: as you drive through, you see a very Norman Rockwell small town. The school, however, is district factor group 'A', the poorest in NJ! That fact makes teaching language arts here VERY challenging!!! Our kids have very limited vocabulary development, and we've learned from research that that fact drives nearly everything. I would love if NJ would do what Kentucky and some other states have done, and use portfolios to gauge student success. This one day test mentality is so misguided.
I teach a specialized reading program after school and have two 3rd graders. They'll be taking the NJAsk for the first time this year and our district is helping prepare them by giving them a practice test today. There is no way in the universe that either of these boys will even be able to read the text. The worst part is, they already realize this. They already have a sense of failure....It's sad and frustrating. Mary On 2/26/08 10:44 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I teach in Cherry Hill and live in Haddonfield.? Where are you? > > > Karen Onyx > Carusi Middle School > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mary Dovey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. > <[email protected]> > Sent: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 7:39 am > Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help > > > > I thought Carusi Middle School rang a bell; where in NJ are you? > > > On 2/24/08 11:05 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> Hi Mary, >> >> >> >> I'm in Jersey, too!? It's like playing a game without knowing the rules... or >> that the rules change without any warning.:) >> >> >> >> In my district, we have 3 writing units: feature article, persuasive writing, >> and literary essay.? We are also expected to do quite a bit with test prep, >> though it can be embedded rather than a specific unit.? All this plus reading >> in a 50 minute period. >> >> >> >> Karen Onyx >> Carusi Middle School >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Mary Dovey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. >> <[email protected]> >> Sent: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:30 am >> Subject: Re: [LIT] New member looking for help >> >> >> >> Hello, everyone. I haven't posted in ages so I doubt anyone will recognize >> my name, but I could use your help. After teaching 7th and 8th grade reading >> and writing for 7 years and fairly successfully instituting workshop >> teaching, I was asked to become the instructional literacy coach. It's quite >> a challenge, particularly getting my colleagues to evolve as writing >> teachers. One thing I'm trying to do is introduce the idea that they need to >> teach units of study in writing and the craft lessons specific to that >> genre. >> >> Our state tests in NJ are changing, but this year they are testing kids in >> narrative writing (they give them a "speculative" prompt and 25 minutes to >> compose....I think it's a travesty, but that's a different rant....) and >> persuasive writing, even as young as 5th grade. Unfortunately, a few >> teachers think that's all they need to teach. >> >> I did a workshop for the teachers last week on persuasive writing, and >> mentioned that successful persuasives often were built on the writing >> techniques of other genres, particularly narrative and feature writing. I >> saw a light bulb go on in a few eyes, and I'd like to capitalize on this >> enthusiasm by getting teachers to begin adding these other genres of writing >> to their curriculum. I'd always taught these units: poetry, memoir, >> narrative, persuasive, informational. What units do you folks teach? Thanks, >> Mary >> >> >> On 2/22/08 4:29 PM, "Jenny Ovadia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> I also just finished a feature article unit--you've already got some great >>> suggestions for reading models, but I'd like to add another resource. The >>> magazine *Muse* has high-interest feature articles for adolescent readers, >>> and they have a lot of graphic features like sidebars and diagrams. >>> >>> I wrote a feature article along with my students, and seeing me write in >>> front of them (or discuss what I wrote the night before) really makes the >>> process more concrete for them. I know they get it when they start to >>> suggest revisions for my draft! >>> >>> At the end of the unit, I had the students find connections among their >>> articles and form their own groups to create magazines (they didn't know >>> they were going to do this when they picked their topics). They had to make >>> the connections among their topics, define characteristics of readers who >>> would be interested in these topics, and create a magazine. They designed >>> covers and bound their articles together. It was a nice way to end the unit >>> creatively with a lot of higher order thinking. >>> >>> This is only my second year teaching, but the feature article unit has been >>> my favorite so far. I hope you enjoy it too! >>> _______________________________________________ >>> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org >>> >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. >>> >>> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org >> >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive >> >> >> ________________________________________________________________________ >> More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - >> http://webmail.aol.com >> _______________________________________________ >> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org >> >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - > http://webmail.aol.com > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
